238 SHEEP INDUSTRY OF THE UNITED STATES 



and the progeny was more feeble than I had ever witnessed from Merino bucks. 



1 did not raise more than 3 lambs from 5 ewes for two successive years, and in put- 

 ting full-blooded Saxony bucks to the ewes thus crossed I have not raised more than 



2 lambs to 5 ewes. I have been still more unsuccessful in raising lambs from the 

 full-blooded Saxony ewes and bucks, although they have been rather better kept 

 than my other sheep. Frora my full-blooded Merino stock my increase was com- 

 monly 9 lambs to 10 ewes, and never less than 4 lambs to 5 ewes ; and those Merino 

 bucks had always been selected for fineness and weight of fleece and shape from my 

 own flock. A more distant cross could not have been made than between the Sax- 

 ony and Merino and yet the same ewes which commonly raised 9 lambs from 10 ewes, 

 and I believe never less than 4 lambs from 5 ewes when put to Merino bucks of the 

 same stock, only raised 3 lambs from 5 ewes when crossed with the imported Saxo- 

 nies. Hence it is evident that the lesser increase on the part of the Saxony breed 

 must be attributable to some other cause than breeding " in-and-in." The form of 

 the sheep alone will satisfy an experienced agriculturist of the true cause. They are 

 long-legged, thin-quartered, flat-sided, narrow-loined, not sufficiently deep-chested, 

 and long-necked. All domestic animals of this shape have feeble constitutions. But 

 it may be asked, how does it happen that those sheep which are descended from the 

 Spanish are so inferior in form to them ? The most probable solution of the question 

 is, that the persons who were sent by the Elector of Saxony into Spain to select were 

 not aware of a fact known to every attentive breeder, that individuals of the same 

 flock which have the most feeble constitutions generally have the finest and lightest 

 fleeces; and as fineness was their principal object they selected the finest-wooled 

 sheep without any reference to form of carcass or weight of fleece. In this they have 

 succeeded, for the Saxony wool is certainly finer than the Spanish; but the latter 

 will, sheep for sheep, at least, yield one-third more in weight of wool, and it pos- 

 sesses the felting or fulling property in as high a degree. * 



The experience of a Connecticut wool-grower who had brought his 

 Spanish Merino flock up to 4J to 4J pounds washed wool was similar. 

 On the importation of the Saxony he bought largely and was sadly dis- 

 appointed, for he lost not only in the value of the fleece, but still more 

 by feebleness of constitution. His Spanish Merino lambs used to drop 

 in March, and their close hairy coats afforded them protection. But 

 March was too cold for the delicate and half naked Saxons. He was 

 obliged to have them drop in May. This was bad management, for 

 when the lambs were weaned it was so late in the season that the 

 mothers would not get fat before winter set in. The Merino lambs were 

 so hardy that the loss of one could almost always be traced to some acci- 

 dent or neglect, but the Saxons would die in spite of all that could be 

 done, the loss being 15 to 20 per cent. The average weight of the fleeces 

 became very much reduced, and he never sold his clip at over 80 cents a 

 pound. In 1833 he found out his mistake and sold out the whole, rescrv- 

 in g such of the old Merinos as he could select. And such also was the ex- 

 perience of the farmers of Massachusetts. From 1834 the Saxon flocks 

 began to decline and the Spanish Merino to appreciate. In 1837 old 

 Merino rams (the Spanish) sold for $25, Saxons for $15 to $20, and the 

 Spanish and Saxon cross from $5 to $15. In 1842 pure Spanish and 

 Saxony Merino rams and ewes sold for $6 to $10 each, while South- 

 downs sold for $15 to $25 each. 



* Niles Weekly Register, February 25, 1832. 



